A Swedish citizen released by the government last year is currently a senior leader of a Somali Islamist terror alliance currently fighting against the newly formed government.

Swedish police arrested three Swedish citizens in February 2008 on charges of funneling money to Al Shabaab, the Somali terrorist group with close links to al Qaeda. One of the men was released shortly afterward, and the remaining two men were released in June 2008 because “the evidence was insufficient” to prove the men had made the transfer, SvD Online reported. The suspects were put on parole, banned from travel, and ordered not to hamper the investigation or destroy evidence. In September 2008 the investigation against the three men was dropped.

Since being released, two of the men have become senior leaders of the newly formed Hizbul Islam. One of the men has been identified by SvD Online as Yasin Ali, while the other has not been named. Ali has been identified in a photograph released by Hizbul Islam, appearing with senior leaders of Hizbul Islam and a large stockpile of weapons.

When notified of the men’s involvement with Hizbul Islam, Ronnie Jacobsson, the Swedish prosecutor who dropped the case against the men, said that it would be difficult to convict the men simply for involvement with Hizbul Islam.

“I need to consider this a while,” Jacobsson told SvD Online. “But simply being a member of a group that has been identified as criminal is not sufficient to convict someone of wrongdoing.”